MANILA – The supply and prices of retail rice are expected to remain stable despite proposals to impose a tariff hike on imported rice and a halt to rice imports, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Tuesday.
This came after the DA requested the gradual reversion of tariffs on imported rice to 25 percent from the current 15 percent, as well as the proposed temporary ban on rice imports for 45 to 60 days starting next month.
“Sa dami ng bigas natin, hindi iyan makakaapekto masyado plus of course, may darating nga na harvest pa (With the volume of our rice, it will not pose a significant effect plus of course, there will be the upcoming harvest),” DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said in an interview.
As of July 1, the country’s total rice stock inventory is on a four-year high at 2.815 million metric tons (MT) — over 1.3 million MT in commercial stock, 1 million in household stock and 447,575 MT with the National Food Authority (NFA), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In terms of retail prices of rice, the amount of premium imported rice in Metro Manila ranges from PHP42 to PHP48/kg as of Monday, according to the DA Bantay Presyo (price watch).
Prices of imported well-milled rice, meanwhile, range between PHP38/kg and PHP50/kg; and imported regular milled rice from PHP30/kg to PHP45/kg.
Prices of premium local rice range from PHP42/kg to PHP60/kg; local well-milled rice, PHP37/kg to PHP52/kg; and local regular-milled rice, PHP30/kg to PHP45/kg.
“Ang daming bigas sa buong mundo na will trigger lalo pang bababa ang presyo ng bigas sa international market. Iyong presyo ngayon ng international market ang laki na rin ng binaba. So, posibleng bumaba pa iyan (There’s so much rice globally which will trigger to further drop rice prices in the international market),” he said.
As of June, the price of 5 percent broken rice from India is at USD379 per MT, lower than USD425.4 in January, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The Vietnam rice is worth USD382.5 per MT, while 25 percent broken Thailand rice is at USD407.5/MT.
De Mesa assured that the current rice inventory plus the upcoming local palay harvest will be enough to meet the country’s 35,000 MT daily requirement.
Rice deflation
De Mesa said Filipinos are now benefiting from various government interventions as the country recorded continuous rice deflation.
In July, rice inflation eased by 15.9 percent, slower than 14.3 percent in June, according to PSA data.
“Very effective ang mga government interventions na ginagawa sa paggabay ng ating Pangulo, sa mga hakbang ng kagawaran ni Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. at talagang nakapaganda ng nangyayari sa sektor ngayon (The government interventions are very effective in line with the directives of our President, through the actions of the agency of Sec. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. and what’s happening in the sector is so good),” De Mesa said.
He said the falling prices of rice have been persistent for 13 months now.
Highlighted among rice affordability measures launched under the Marcos administration is the “Benteng Bigas Meron (BBM) Na,” which refers to the sale of PHP20/kg of “aging but good quality stocks” of NFA rice to the members of the vulnerable sector and minimum wage earners.
The BBM Na rice is available in 757 Kadiwa ng Pangulo centers, pop-up stores, and accredited sites.
Since its launch in May, the DA reported almost a million Filipinos or about 217,000 household beneficiaries, including senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and the Walang Gutom (Zero Hunger) program, and minimum wage earners.
Other government measures to protect consumers from spiking prices of retail rice include the implementation of Executive Order 62, which reduced the tariffs on imported rice to 15 percent from 35 percent; gradual reduction of the maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for 5 percent broken imported rice; declaration of food security emergency for rice; and availability of the Rice for All program.
As of July 16, the MSRP for 5 percent broken imported rice is at PHP43/kg, down from the initial PHP58/kg MSRP in January. (PNA)